Fall TV Schedule Moves in Review: The Savvy, the Shocking and the Sorta Snoozeworthy

Can Agent Gibbs’ acronymed crimefighting agency fend off Agent Coulson’s? Should Bones fans feel bruised? Can The CW turn a period drama into an exclamation point?

Now that each of the five broadcast networks has announced its game plan for the fall TV season, TVLine took a step back to survey some of the big swings, including Booth and Brennan’s “new home,” the aforementioned NCIS-vs.-S.H.I.E.L.D. face-off, the curious case of Michael J. Fox’s time slot and CBS’ “no mercy” approach to one particular night of primetime.

Melissa McCarthy’s directing a film this summer. That’s what Nina Tassler was referring too. There’s no way she can do the show and co-direct a feature in a three month span. Giving her the time off makes sense and it allows Lorre to focus in on Mom as it launches. I bet CBS will do what NBC did a few years ago with 30 Rock and air the 22 eps of Mike & Molly without interruption beginning in January.

No, I was in the room. Tassler was specifically referring to the buddy cop movie “The Heat,” out June 28. She was questioned on her logic, then backtracked a bit to say that it (and any eventual next Melissa McCarthy movie) will keep her buzz alive until… whenever.

It may be that Tassler was not fully briefed on the reason for Melissa’s time off, so instead spoke about the new movie coming out this summer. Melissa is currently co-directing a movie; that should be time consuming.

They schould have kept Body of Poof!!! and they will realize it again!!, thinking they can bring it back. (again) HUM.. 10 million viewers are not very happy, and putting something else in its place…. WELL now thats taking a risk. Another network needs to save Body of Poof before we here them say OOPS we did it again!!:o(

As the SECOND HIGHEST performing scripted show on FOX I do believe Bones fans and cast and crew have a right to feel bruised. Of course it may never happen as one of new shows are bound to do a Mob Doctor early on. That being said Bones will probably get its 206 episodes all the fans want which would have to mean a 16 ep season 10 whether it’s on Fridays or not.

But it does have the ratings! The only scripted show beating it is The Following, Your post makes no sense. It brings in more revenue than Glee, New Girl, etc. Yes it’s coming to the end of it’s run but it still holds its own big time!!

My post makes plenty of sense. You have to pay more money to the producers, to the actors, for the commercials, to the studio, etc. It’s an aging show. If the ratings were as large as NCIS for example, then sure it wouldn’t be cancelled. Moving the show to Friday also shows indication that if this isn’t the last season right now, within the next few years it will be. Bones may have decent ratings now, but I expect it to plummet with the move. If it holds the relative numbers it has now, then it might have a fighting chance. We’ll see. Again it’s far too soon to make that prediction.

David and Emily have already signed through S10 so they won’t cost anymore. I do agree it’s coming to the end, but all I was suggesting is a S10 shortened or otherwise is not out of the question given how poorly other FOX shows are doing. Yes if it airs on Fridays it will drop but there are far worse performing shows on the network!

@Esaul Thank you for pointing out what is painfully obvious to many of us old time fans. I say painfully for a couple of reasons. It is sad to see a favorite of mine move into the last season, but I honestly have expected this for the last two years. I am fine with S9 being the last. Quantity means nothing without quality writing. 206 episodes is too many to endure if the story empasis is going to be how gross the victim’s body can be and how few lines the leads can say to each other. If 206 episodes means we get quality B&B relationship resovling, then I am in.

I will also add that it is painful to see many people lashing out at those of us who are living in reality when it come to the TV show Bones. As though we are the people who invented the Friday night “death slots”. History show what happens to those shows that end up there and we have nothing to say or can do NOTHING about it. It is FOX that made the decision (whether or not they follow thru on it) to send Bones to the graveyard of TV Series, but what is justifying this move for them is exactly what you said Esaul- the show has become way to expensive to support. Yes, DB and ED signed two year contracts. YES it is true that one way the network does NOT have to pay the big money out is if the show gets cancelled. I do know that series contracts are paid out by the number of episodes shot, not like football players, based on the seasons they get.

I am convinced that Fox has no intention of running any longer with the show than they have to based on paying leads per episode an extrodinary amount of money. It’s just business folks. Knock off the hater talk, because many of us are just realists.

They need to wrap up this series in a fashion that compliments the honorable run they have had on network prime time TV, and tip the ‘ol hat the many, many fans of this show that followed it relentlessly to where ever it got shuffled to every season. Someone needs to see if Bones has set a record. If moved to Friday night it will have been scheduled on every week night there is.

My best friend loves Bones, though she doesn’t enjoy the current direction with it. I’m only in season two, I absolutely love the show and the chemistry. I’d love for nothing more for the show to continue, if they find a new direction to find a new breath of life. I watched an episode from last season (I think anyway) on TNT. I know the basics about their baby and stuff. It just felt so lifeless. I’m not trying to sound cynical either, I hate to see the good shows die. And I hope that out of respect to the good Bones has done to the network, they’ll let the show know beforehand if this will indeed be the last season or not. I’d love to have good quality closure to a show that’s been on for almost a decade, similar to how The Office left.

To my knowledge signing on for two more years doesn’t guarantee two more seasons. That’s if it does get renewed, then they’re on board. The network would still have the option to cancel the show if this season doesn’t go well. I’d expect IF it is the last season they will let the creator/writers know to create an appropriate end to the show. Again it’s all too early to seriously speculate beyond what we know already.

@Smiletime – Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan’s contracts with 20th Century Fox are up at the end of season 9, so I doubt they would’ve have given David and Emily a contract offer for a longer period of time beyond what the showrunners are contracted. Plus, Hart Hanson was reported in The Hollywood Reporter as saying, “They’re in negotiations through at least season nine.” I’ve never heard S10 as a done deal. Which website published that? Though ultimately, as Esaul mentioned, even if they did get a two-year contract renewal it doesn’t guarantee a two-year show renewal. Everything is still contingent on ratings, which have been declining steadily since the S5 finale.

Me too. I want it to do well, but I’m being realistic and going into next season thinking it will be its last. That way if it does end up being its last, hopefully, I won’t be as sad when they announce it, but if it does get the 10th I will be pleasantly surprised.

Seriously, if Fox goes through with their threat to move a proven loyal fanbase to Friday with Bones, are they just giving up on Mondays? Two new shows against that killer competition with no established fanbase? Really?

Agree totally!! Best news of the year!! Jack is back! I am so curious about who else will be in it. No one has said anything. Tony? Chloe? President Taylor? Wayne Palmer? Martha? Kim? WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NBC is making a huge gamble with Revolution. They haven’t aired the show without The Voice as a lead in yet. I understand the potential of launching new shows behind it, but what good does it do to have it fend for itself without testing it during the initial run? Pre-hiatus, Revolution did well against Hawaii Five-0 and Castle. After it came back though, the ratings haven’t reached above 2.6, losing quite often to Castle. Sure, an earlier timeslot MIGHT do better, but NBC hasn’t had luck with the 8 PM hour in quite some time on Wednesday nights. I’m a bit skeptical, and it will harm Revolution’s potential.

Also, I’m not concerned about NCIS vs Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Shield will have a great premiere no doubt, but it won’t live up to the success of The Avengers, that or people will expect too much. NCIS is a well established juggernaut of a show. It’ll suffer a small blow, but will rebound.

I think what hurt Revolution’s numbers was the fact that it was on hiatus for so long. I think its break was almost three months. Even with The Voice as lead-in when it came back all its momentum had been lost. As for the Bones move to Fridays, I see that as the writing on the wall and predict that this will be its last season. I unfortunately see the same thing happening to Raising Hope, which is too bad because it is a consistently funny half hour.

The hiatus is definitely what hurt Revolution. It had great momentum prior to the long break. It was a horrible decision on their part. I think as long as they don’t pull that stunt again, Revolution should be fine. Hopefully, b/c I really enjoy that show. :)

Revolution is one of the most dvr’d show even now (constantly in the Top 5). So, NBC must have seen the potential and placed it at an 8pm slot. But I’d have gone with placing it at 9pm since that’s the best slot for the show. Its vastly improved since the 10th episode.

The problem is, will the DVR numbers be enough to mitigate the potential blow the show will receive in ratings for the move? What if the ratings drop below a 1.6 consistently, will the DVR numbers make up for that? And I don’t know if they factor in DVR numbers when they decide renewing/cancelling shows. It’s possible, but yeah. :D

I think one of the (if not THE) most baffling decisions is NBC moving Parenthood to Thursdays at 10:00.
It really wasn’t doing that great on Tuesdays (though not overly terrible) & now it’s going to be up against Scandal & Elementary.

As I see it, NBC isn’t having any luck launching new dramas on Thursdays. It does have decent ratings for the network, and even though it will lose to Scandal, it might perform better than launching a new drama that will cost money, only to see it cancelled.

Exactly this will be my schedule OUAT in Wonderland, sean saves the world/MJ Fox show then i’m back to ABC for Scandal. I love Parenthood but i will have to DVR it because I will be watching Scandal live all season. I don’t know what NBC is banking on with Parenthood against Scandal or even Elementary.

I always laugh when people to point to Elementary as competition. It ended its season with a 2.0 and fell below a 2.0 the week before that. This happened despite ample promotion and a plum post-superbowl slot. Parenthood shouldn’t worry about that failure of a show, though as others have pointed out Scandal is pretty formidable.

That “plum” Super Bowl slot wasn’t so plum. The game coverage ran late because of the power outage. Elementary started much later than it was supposed to. It ended its season with a 2hr episode that aired against things like the American Idol finale which may’ve been a low-rated Idol finale, but it still packs a ratings punch compared to many shows and wasn’t the only big show Elementary had to go up against in the first hour. Then there’s the fact that if someone misses the first hour of a 2 hr show, the odds they’ll just jump in at 10pm is low. It might not have soaring demo numbers, but there are reasons for the anemic finish.

There’s no question that I’m following Supernatural. I don’t watch CBS (not because of a boycott, but because every show they have smells like moth balls) and I don’t expect much from SHIELD since Joss lost his mojo so long ago that I’m not sure I’ll ever like his work again. The problem that the CW has is that I like the Arrow/Supernatural pairing so much that I will probably record Supernatural and watch it with Arrow anyway. Which means that I’m not going to be tuning in on Tuesday night for The Originals, nor will I be tuning in Wednesday night for The Tomorrow People. If I watch those shows at all, it will be some other random time when I’m bored.

They made Wednesday night appointment TV, and then tried to cancel the appointment. Bad move.

I feel the same way about the Supernatural move. Sometimes you just have to wonder how they come up with the decisions that they do or if they just pull a show title from a hat and play a game of pin the show on the schedule and where it falls is anyones guess.

The move is more for strategic purposes. Spn and arrow both have significant fan bases that can hold well. This will help lead in freshman shows and garner their interests. Spn, they feel will have a stronger chance of surviving tuesday night slots

The problem that I see is that Supernatural isn’t the same demographic as The Originals. And from what little I’ve seen, Arrow isn’t the same demographic as The Tomorrow People. The reason those two shows worked well together is because they were darker, grittier, more adult-male targeted shows. The genres were different, but the demographic was the same.

The Originals spins off of a show that most adult males would not be caught dead watching. The Vampire Diaries is teenage drama… I don’t mean to offend fans of the show, but it’s kinda fluff. The Originals would go better with TVD, The Tomorrow People or even Beauty and the Beast, rather than Supernatural.

The Tomorrow People might be a fine show, but the previews didn’t look dark, gritty, or adult-male targeted. It’s funny, because The Tomorrow People reminded me of the “white room” side of Roswell, while that Star-Crossed (or whatever it’s called) reminded me of the “Dear diary, I’m in love with an alien” side of Roswell. I think that The Tomorrow People would have been better paired with The Vampire Diaries or Beauty and the Beast, based on what I’ve seen so far.

Based on the previews that I watched, it doesn’t seem like any of their new shows are targeting the demo that Arrow and Supernatural hit. So while they have this powerful night for that demo right now and it’s a solid success for that crowd, they are splitting the shows up and trying to use each of them to launch new shows that really don’t hit the same audience, thus making two weaker nights, rather than one home run of a night. If they were trying to use Supernatural to launch a show like Cult, I might actually understand the decision. It made sense to use it to launch Arrow.

I will hope that the preview for The Tomorrow People didn’t properly present the series, but The Originals is all wrong for Supernatural. You’d be better off pairing it with Hart of Dixie.

i’m worried about raising hope, I just dont understand fox’s thinking in moving it. the originals are probable screwed against ncis and shield. I don’t know if I want to watch the originals( im a fan of tvd) or shield( fan of weadon but felt so so about the avengers when I watched it). will be watching hart of dixie instead of himym so stupid its only taking place during one weekend. really really want poi to kick ass on tuesdsays but not happy its on 10 instead of 9 and worried it will lose viewers bc of the time change esp against soa and justified when they come back on.

Putting The Originals up against SHIELD and NCIS does seem head scratching if they want it do well. I really want both SHIELD and the Originals to succeed. Also, I’m not sure that placing Reign after The Vampire Diaries is such a bad idea. Actually, I find that most vampire fans tend to also love period film. They have some similar themes in many of the stories, particularly in the romantic department. It is a smart combo and I’m surprised they thought of it since most people are unaware of this audience. Still, this idea only works IF Reign is any good, Unfortunately, I found the clip to be laughable. Hopefully, the rest of the pilot is better. It looks like they should take notes from the BBC.They at least get props for casting Anne of Green Gables. :)

I’d have loved to see The Originals paired with The Vampire Diaries. It’s like how I enjoy my spinoffs personally. And at times it does better for the show, like NCIS/NCIS:LA. I don’t know why they placed Shield where they did against NCIS, and The Voice. But we’ll see.

The bonehead move of the fall is what is not here…Body of Proof. Don’t care what the demographics are, 10 million people aren’t wrong. ABC likely has no new shows that will match that number of viewers. I’m old and I have lots of money to spend

It isn’t so much about the viewers it brings in, but the ratings. A show can have high viewership, but low ratings and still see the ax. Body of Proof’s last episode brought a 1.4 rating. If you look at Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, they both had 3.2/3.1 Castle, five seasons in brought a 2.1. So you can kinda see why it was cancelled. It’s usually about the shows within the network, and if it financially makes sense to keep going. I fear with Revenge, if the ratings don’t improve (unless they have faith in the show or have something bigger planned for Sunday), it could get cancelled too.

You can ‘personally feel’ whatever you want, but 18 to 49 year olds are more likely to change the brands they use. People 50+ have greater brand loyalty and are less likely to watch an ad and decide to try something. I don’t like that networks don’t seem to account for the massive baby boomer audience because it helps anchor us away from flashy drivel, but it’s not as commercially viable for the advertisers ergo it’s not as important to networks. If you can figure out a way around that, believe me they would build a statue in your honor. Right now the only answer is to become more fickle about the products you buy. How that’ll happen in large enough numbers to matter, I don’t know.

Scooby you wouldn’t want to see a statue of me:). I know what you are saying. I guess the problem is the 18 to 49 demo is shrinking in size with the 50+ growing. That is what makes it so frustrating to me as a 50+ person. Hopefully they figure out how to make money on the other methods of viewing

I don’t see why People doubt so much at Reign. I see the show has potential.Yes it’s an odd show. But I really miss good teenage drama. It doesn’t have to be all that supernatural. Some history lessons would be good for the kids.
VD could give it a boost. But it needed maybe 2-3 famous faces to get people interested. Some guest appearences would be nice.

The most puzzling move for me is holding MiKe and Molly until mid-season and I think the move will only hurt Revolution. I’m also worried about Supernatural season 8 was so good. Especially after the ok sixth and the horrible seventh seasons. It’s the show I love again and I want a 10th season.

I think this shows confidence from the CW. They are obviously expecting/hoping TVD type numbers from The Originals, and seeing the performance/drastic quality increase of Season 8, are expecting it to do well. I really think this bodes well for a Season 10.

Shield might have a bigger than normal opening. But it’s not Avengers, and it doesn’t have the big names. So episode 2 it might start to sink. Pilots can only sell the show so much… So I figure NCIS will continue to lead by a huge margin. ABC is taking a huge gamble. Did NBC learn nothing from the Smash fiasco. Revolution is already sinking, and take it away from the Voice is stupid… They have threatened BONES to Friday before, and it’s never happened. So we’ll see if they do it this time. And if they do. Might be the best way to get Season 10 and 200th episode is because it will have lower expectations on Friday. And unlike they have shows catch fire, BONES is still the best hope they have right now. Next to a fading Idol and Glee.

I hope Wonderland succeeds. I don’t watch Once, but damn if that Wonderland trailer wasn’t amazing! The writing seems excellent and the girl seems perfect for the role (and she’s quite beautiful which is an incentive to keep watching the show). I’m as excited for this as I am for SHIELD!

NCIS:LA would not have such strong ratings if it wasn’t for them following NCIS. They have clung to the coat tails long enough. Switch it to another night and see if it sinks or floats. Put Blue Bloods on Tuesdays in that slot.

Why? NCIS: LA has the ratings to remain where it is. If Blue Bloods posted numbers similar to Person of Interest, then I’m sure they would consider it. But Blue Bloods would have to do better than that of NCIS: LA as well. Strategically, it doesn’t make sense to move what’s working.

FOX has a long history of screwing Bones over, so this isn’t new by any means (How many times has the show been moved over the years?). I’m aware the show is winding down but it is one of the networks most stable shows and frankly, I can’t see any new show doing well Monday @8. This move may very well come back to bite FOX down the road

well, let’s just say Bones experienced Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and now Fridays. Clearly, it deserves more respect from Fox. I just hope it’ll do well on Fridays. I am really looking forward to that 206 episodes ^_*

I think ABC has taken a big gamble by placing SHIELD against NCiS. They could have taken ownership of an entire night if they put it somewhere else. I think The Goldbergs may have a shot against NCIS:LA. CBS has some great dramas but that one is not one of them. And I tried to like it several times because I like all of the leads, but it’s just terrible. The Golbergs turned me off with the hideous sweaters on the promos but after watching the clip I have to say, I think this is the best new comedy. I could not believe how much I laughed. Lucky 7 is DOA. It’s a terrible concept and it’s up against POI and CF. BTW, I am so very happy that POI has been moved. I can actually start watching now. Up against Greys and Glee it never stood a chance with me, but now I’m in. I don’t watch Bones but I think it deserves better than Fridays. I am so, so excited about 24. Why, WHY do we have to wait a whole year? The only positive is that at least there will be something awesome to watch after the tv season ends.

Right there with you! Speaking as a TV addict, I’ve got about 21 hours of television a week next year… And I work nights. Mind you, I’ll likely shed a few of those hours after I check out some of the pilots.

Was looking forward to S.H.I.E.L.D .. that is until I see the time slot. Sorry ABC, I am not giving up NCIS for S.H.I.E.L.D. And you cancelling Body of Proof and double down on Once Upon A Time doesn’t help either.

After the tiring Tony-Ziva scenes and the terrible Bones finale, I’m willing to try new things this year (too bad, I really like Michael Weatherly and David Boreanaz). I’ll be checking SHIELD. I don’t really watch anything on Friday nights and I don’t see that changing.

As my Tuesday schedule is free and clear now (this season I watched Dancing results, NBC Comedy’s and Parenthood all gone) so i’m so excited for S.H.E.I.L.D. The Goldbergs, Trophy Wife and the POI’S Move. There are a lot of people who don’t watch NCIS so I think S.H.E.I.L.D. will be fine it’s Josh Whedon even if it’s not “Avengers” he has a great TV following.

SHEILD will do amazing, for 1. not everyone watches NCIS. 2.Many people love Josh Whedon for other shows and movies he made n will watch for him. 3.NCIS and SHEILD very likey will have different Demo, SHEILD is aiming for more younger. I’m not saying SHEILD will make 20 million like NCIS but 10-12 million like ONCE did in season 1 will be about what SHEILD will make.

I think ONCE in Wonderland can do decent in its timeslot, at least way better then what other shows have, I can see it holding 7 million all 13 episode.

I’m most shock that ABC did not move Revenge, I would have loved it on thursday after Scandal or took it back to Wed. night. I think Nashville is more of a sunday show but I heard somthing about Itunes and it wouldnt work well with the sells.

I hope Body of Proof gets another home.

I’m scare for Chicago Fire & Parenthood but I think with the voice lead in, CF can really reach that 7/8 million viewers it had reach when CSI wasnt on. Parenthood can do decent enough to get a final season after this one or could at least a proper ending this season.

I’m happy Hart of Dixie will go back to mondays where it used to do better both in ratings and in the demos then it did on tuesday.

Let’s remember it’s on The CW, so it very likely won’t be one of the first cancellations. It’s probably going to pull in a lot of the Gossip Girl, 90210 fans, for the most part. That being, I’m not betting on a second season. But who knows, it is the CW.

The CW should be VERY worried scheduling The Originals against ABCs Marvel Shield and CBSs NCIS. I can’t see it doing that well..atleast in the overnight ratings with that competition. REIGN doesn’t seem to be that compatible with either TVD or the CW audience in general. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the networks first cancellation next season.

I will still watch Bones on Friday but I have no interest in any of the other shows you covered! They all look terrible! Shield might be okay…I’m not into Marvel comics AT ALL but it is Joss Whedon so I’ll probably check it out. I won’t be watching anything on NBC though – they cancelled SMASH so they have lost me as a viewer!

I think Parenthood can survive as will SuperNatural and Bones which have been on every way possible! Regarding CW is their shows really NOW, as their campaign was this year, I don’t think many watch them live?!! The ratings system as promised for USA needs to be changed, I don’t watch CBS procedurals and can only understand younger that watch them live if are into watching with the whole family unit, only thing that makes sense if demographics accurate??!

I am going to give Fox the benefit of the doubt and think they are screwing with Bones just because they have moved it so much in the past and it has always survived so they thought why not try something again. I was excited for S.H.E.I.L.D and The Originals, but I’m not sure about their timeslots. What it really boils down to, is that any new shows I decide to try, I will DVR the first few episodes, check the ratings for a while then if they are doing decent check them out. I don’t want to waste time on shows that won’t get picked up for a full season or keep dropping every week so then at the end of the season they get canceled.